Fantasies of resistance : Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" and Bryan Singer's X2:X-men United

Danijela Petković

doi:10.5817/BSE2021-2-9

Fantasies of resistance : Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" and Bryan Singer's X2:X-men United

Vol.47,No.2(2021)

Danijela Petković

https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2021-2-9

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/144880

PDF

Abstract

The paper discusses Neil Gaiman's critically acclaimed short story, "A Study in Emerald" (2003), and an early superhero film, Bryan Singer's X2:X-Men United (2003), in terms of their portrayal of resistance under/to oppressive regimes – the eldritch abominations' reign in alternative nineteenth-century Great Britain in Gaiman's story, and, in Singer's film, the law-suspending state of exception which produces bare life in the name of national security. The paper focuses on the critical and political potential of these narratives' representations of resistance, situating and examining each within their respective relevant contexts (anarchism; Victorian economy and society; security; state of exception, and exceptionalism).

Keywords:
Bryan Singer; Neil Gaiman; resistence; Sherlock Holmes; X-Men

Pages:
119–137

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